Abstract
Marine pollution impacts coastal nations around the world, and more so: (a) in confined maritime areas with significant marine traffic, (b) where exploitation of natural and mineral resources is taking place, or (c) in regions witnessing pressure from tourism, local population growth, and industry. In this work, Digital Elevation Models, hydrographic, and climatic data are used together with computer simulations to understand the control of climate change on marine pollution. The results show that different climate change signals can potentially alter the flow and concentration of pollution in the European Seas, when compared to the present day. Ultimately, this work identifies the main sources of marine pollution as: (1) rivers and streams near cities and industrialised areas, (2) coastal areas experiencing sudden demographic pressures, (3) offshore shipping lanes in which oil and other marine debris are released, and (4) areas of rugged seafloor where industrial fishing takes place. This paper finishes by describing new educational material prepared to teach school children around the world. It explains why how a new training curriculum and e-game developed by Sea4All can be crucial in future Environmental Education and Education for a Sustainable Development.
Highlights
Marine pollution impacts coastal nations around the world, and more so: (a) in confined maritime areas with significant marine traffic, (b) where exploitation of natural and mineral resources is taking place, or (c) in regions witnessing pressure from tourism, local population growth, and industry
Marine pollution varies in its relative importance to include pollutants such as agricultural fertilizers and chemical pesticides, litter discarded during large cultural events, debris and objects freely discarded in regions subject to mass tourism, plastic and domestic litter derived from large cities, oil and chemical spills around industrial compounds and, rather frequently, domestic and industrial waste disposed of in rivers[1,2]
Estimates based on a smaller regional climate models (RCM) ensemble used in combination with a hydrological model suggest that changes in water runoff echo those predicted for rainfall
Summary
Marine pollution impacts coastal nations around the world, and more so: (a) in confined maritime areas with significant marine traffic, (b) where exploitation of natural and mineral resources is taking place, or (c) in regions witnessing pressure from tourism, local population growth, and industry. A specific aspect of parts of Southern Europe, namely the Mediterranean and Black Seas, is that their onshore topography is dominated by mountain ranges on which large rates of erosion, sediment transport and river water flow are recorded during seasonal flash-flood e vents[12,13] These flash floods enhance the transport of sediment and water from the hinterland to coastal areas during early fall and winter, at the same time carrying floating objects and chemical pollutants to near-shore areas via the same rivers and streams where they were accidentally disposed of during the dry s eason[13]. They further suggest that floods in small catchments of Southern Europe will increase due to enhanced convective storms and land-use c hanges[14]
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